


try not to wonder what the weather will be

by likewinning



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, Multi, Threesome - M/M/M, Trope Bingo Round 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 17:16:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3419000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likewinning/pseuds/likewinning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Steve keeps handing out free coffees to the cute guy that works at the tattoo parlor next door, but it never seems to go anywhere until Bucky rolls back into town.</p>
            </blockquote>





	try not to wonder what the weather will be

**Author's Note:**

  * For [storiesfortravellers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesfortravellers/gifts).



> For storiesfortravellers for the prompt. I thought this would be SO EASY TO WRITE. Almost two months later... And to my favoritest of them all ohmcgee for listening to me babble about this.

"So, your boyfriend gets back tomorrow, huh?" Jason asks. No one's here – technically, the coffee shop closed hours ago – but Steve still looks around.

"He's not my boyfriend."

Jason grins at him. "But you kind of want him to be."

"Jason…"

"Like kind of a _lot_."

Steve rubs his neck. He definitely should've kicked Jason out ages ago, but the thing is Jason's good company when he's not teasing Steve about things he doesn't have a _clue_ about. Bucky is – Bucky is complicated.

Bucky's been _gone_. The last time Steve saw him was almost a year ago now, and –

"It's really not like that," Steve lies. "I mean, I've known Bucky since I was a scrawny kid getting beat up for my smart mouth and he'd jump in and save me."

"Man," Jason says. "I was a scrawny kid with a smart mouth, where was _my_ guy?"

"Maybe you were too smart."

"Well, I am pretty much brilliant…"

"Anyway," Steve says. He moves out from behind the counter and starts walking around the store, shutting off lights and checking the locks.

"Anyway, I'm totally right," Jason says. "You definitely want soldier boy to be your boyfriend."

"That's it. I'm cutting off your supply of free coffee. As of tomorrow, you're paying."

"Fine," Jason says. He shrugs. "No more free tattoos for you."

"I don't _have_ any tattoos. You think I'd let you near me with a needle?"

"Hey man, I'm an _artist_."

"You're an idiot," Steve corrects. "Now get the hell out of my coffee shop."

Jason grins at him, steals a cookie out of the basket by the registers, and walks out. Steve doesn't check out his ass, except for the part where he does.

"How long is he staying?" Jason asks, once they're next door at his place. Steve doesn't really understand the hours at the tattoo parlor, and he's not entirely sure that Jason doesn't just live on a cot in the back of the shop – sometimes the place is open at 8AM, and sometimes Steve doesn't see Jason until late afternoon.

"I don't know," Steve says. "Could be a week or so. Could be months."

"You never know with all the secret spy stuff, right?"

"Jason, he's _not_ a spy." They've been over this.

"Dude," Jason says, raising his eyebrows. "Do _you_ know what he does?"

Steve hesitates. "He's not supposed to tell me…"

"But _you_ know."

He nods. Sometimes he wishes he didn't, wishes the last time Bucky came home he hadn't gotten too drunk, too sloppy, and told Steve about some of the things he _does_. Wishes that when he told Bucky he was still a good man, still his best friend, Bucky hadn't –

"Well, yeah," Steve says.

"See? Spy."

"Okay, fine," Steve says. "You're right. He's a spy. In fact, I'm a spy, too. I have a license to kill and now, because I told you, I have to kill you."

Jason leans back against the counter, legs spread out, and grins at him. "Man, I know you're fucking around, but you would look _super_ hot all 007'd up."

"Good _night_ , Jason," Steve says, heading for the door. Bucky's supposed to be back in less than twenty-four hours.

 

*

 

It's not like Steve doesn't have a life outside of Bucky. He has the coffee shop, and friends, and – whatever the hell Jason is. Jason owns the tattoo parlor next door, but Steve's not sure how Jason ever makes any money when he spends half the day at Steve's place, downing free cups of espresso, stealing pastries, bitching about Steve's taste in music and telling truly terrifying stories about his upbringing.

Any day now, Jason's just going to set up shop in here, and Steve… Okay, he wouldn't hate it.

So Jason's really good looking. And funny. And sometimes he works the counter for free when Steve can't find anyone to cover shifts. It's not like Steve's going to do anything about it, though, because –

Well. Because Bucky's coming home, and it's like Steve told Jason, they're not _boyfriends_ , but.

Well.

 

*

 

Jason's leaning against the counter, telling a story about one of his brothers (honestly, Steve gets them mixed up) when Bucky walks into the coffee shop. Jason must sense that Steve's stopped listening, because he turns from the counter to the door and then back again and mouths, "Holy shit," at Steve.

Which, while not Steve's usual choice of words, is accurate.

Steve feels the smile break on his face, big and bright, and then he's out from behind the counter and hugging Bucky, breathing him in, and he smells like sweat and airplane and cigarettes buried under aftershave and his hair's gotten too long, and for a second everything falls back into place.

"Missed you, punk," Bucky says in his ear.

Steve nods, swallows, steps back. Bucky's wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and he must have already used his key to stop by Steve's place and change because it's one of _Steve's_ t-shirts. It doesn't really fit - his arms are even bigger than the last time Steve saw him. Bucky looks tired, but he grins at Steve, then glances past him at Jason. "Who's your friend?" he asks.

Jason, when Steve looks over at him, manages not to look like he's been staring at them. He steps forward and holds out his hand for Bucky to shake. "Hey man," he says. "I'm Jason. I work next door."

"When he works," Steve adds. Bucky still has one arm around his shoulder, and when he lets go of Jason's hand he uses the other to scratch at the stubble growing on his cheek.

"I come here for the free coffee," Jason explains.

"And the great company," Steve adds.

"Definitely that," Jason agrees. Steve feels Bucky watching them both, feels his own face get a little warm.

"Uh, anyway," Steve says, just as Jason says, "I should get going – uh, it was nice meeting you, man."

Bucky says, "Likewise," and after they watch Jason go, Bucky pokes him in the side. "Steve," Bucky says. " _Tell_ me you're hitting that."

 

*

 

The next morning Jason shows up at 8, even though Steve's pretty sure his shop doesn't open until 10. He at least waits until there's a lull in customers to start harassing Steve.

"So, how was your night?"

Steve shrugs. "It was all right. Didn't get much sleep."

"Wow, that fast, huh?" Jason asks, and it takes a second for Steve to get it –

"Uh. No. Bucky slept on my couch, but he – kinda has nightmares, you know?"

Something flickers in Jason's eyes, but before Steve can ask, a customer starts shouting about how they're always out of cinnamon scones, and by the time Steve finishes putting out _that_ fire, Jason's off at a corner table with (somehow) a cinnamon scone and a copy of _Persuasion._

Bucky turns up later in the day, and he still looks tired, but he waits out the rest of Steve's shift and then they grab a bite to eat and visit Bucky's sisters.

"So," Bucky says. They're walking past the coffee shop, half a block from Steve's apartment. "No boyfriend, no girlfriend. What's that about, man?"

Steve shrugs, deflects. "You haven't been around to get me dates. What's a guy to do?"

"Well, ask out the tattoo parlor guy, for one," Bucky suggests.

"Bucky…"

"Come on, he's totally into you. _And_ he's hot."

"So _you_ date him."

"You know I don't do that," Bucky says. It comes out light, but Steve knows – knows what it really is.

"Anyway, Jason's just…"

"Come on, why not?" Bucky asks him.

Steve looks at him. They're not going to discuss it, because they never do, because it's been two years and a lot of failed attempts at moving on, but Steve says, "You _know_ why not."

Bucky blinks, nods. Puts his arm around Steve's shoulder and tugs him in close. "You know it'd be you, Stevie. If I –"

_If I could_ , Steve guesses he means. _If I wasn't such a mess._ Steve's heard them all, over the years, starting from _if I was into guys_ when they were fifteen, leading right up to _if I wasn't leaving_ when they were twenty. There's always something, and before, Steve used to argue, but now –

Now, Steve's supposed to be moving on. He promised, the last time Bucky left, that he would. And Bucky –

"Hey, you wanna binge watch all of the Sopranos with me tonight? I think it's been so long I forgot how it ends."

_It ends shitty_ , Steve wants to say, but he shrugs and says, "Sure, Buck. You bet."

 

*

 

Jason's finishing up with a customer when the bell rings above the door. "We're closed," he says. It's only 7PM, but whatever, Jason does what he wants.

"But where am I gonna get a tattoo of a heart that says 'Mom' inside it?" Steve asks.

Jason's concentrating on the finishing touches of a tattoo so he can't look up, but he motions with his free hand for Steve to wait. "You know, knocking one of those is like me knocking you for selling frozen coffee drinks. People have to make money _somehow_."

"Speaking of which," Steve says, holding up an iced coffee. "I haven't seen you in at least four hours. I thought you might want one."

"I've mentioned that I'm slightly in love with you, right?" Jason asks, and Steve blushes, which was sort of his goal.

Jason finishes the ink, talks with the girl for a minute about taking care of it, and once she's gone he turns back to Steve.

"So, what's up?"

Steve shrugs. "Just seeing if you wanted to come out for a beer."

"You asking me out?" Jason teases. Not hopefully. Not feeling his heart speed up a little, because he's not fucking _fifteen_ or anything. It's just the coffee.

"Um, no." Steve clears his throat. "Bucky's meeting us there."

Right. The super hot guy who isn't Steve's boyfriend. "Oh, so you're setting me up. That's cool," Jason says. "I'll return the favor."

Steve groans. "That's okay, man. I've seen the people you hang out with. The crazy redhead?"

"Who, Roy? Or Kori?" Could've even been Babs, Jason guesses, except Jason would classify her more as _quirky_ than crazy.

"The one with the tattoos."

Right. Roy. "I wouldn't set you up with _him_ ," Jason says. "You're _way_ out of his league. Now, Kori…"

Steve holds up his hand. "Seriously. Don't."

"Fine, but don't say I didn't offer," Jason says. "Beer?"

"Yeah," Steve breathes out. "Beer."

 

*

 

Jason's not really sure what to expect hanging out with both of them, but he spends the night listening to Bucky and Steve tell stories about each other, watching Bucky wrap his arm around Steve's should every time he laughs, his eyes burning into Jason's every so often.

He's not expecting, after Steve calls it a night and says he'll see Bucky at home, for Bucky to pull him into a bathroom stall, throw him back against the wall and say, "Sorry man, I'm a little fucked up."

And Jason knows from fucked up, knows when it's needed, so he shoves Bucky against the opposite wall until it rattles, laughs at the way Bucky's eyes widen and says, "Well, I'm a _lot_ fucked up, so that all works out."

They fuck fast, hard, Bucky's hands gripping Jason's hips and Jason muttering, "Yeah, come on, _do it_ " until Bucky puts a hand over his mouth. Jason sucks on his fingers, bites down on them until Bucky lets him go, and then he's promising to suck Bucky off so _good_ one of these days when Bucky asks, "Jesus, do you ever shut up?"

"Nope," Jason says. "Just ask Steve."

They both groan at the name, and then Bucky only has to get his hand around Jason's cock before he's coming, slamming his head back and thrusting back against Bucky until Bucky bites down on his neck and comes too.

Once he's zipped up, Jason turns back around to look at Bucky. His hair's falling out of his ponytail and his mouth is red. "So, do we need to talk about any of that?" Jason asks.

"You mean Steve?"

"Well…"

Bucky sighs. "Look. You wanna ask Steve out, it's cool. You seem okay, and _he_ obviously doesn't mind that you don't shut up."

"Thanks, man."

"You know what I mean. He seems to really like you, and…"

_He seems to really like **you**_ Jason wants to say, but he waits, and Bucky says, "You gotta lose the knives, though."

"How –" There's one in his boot, another tucked into his jacket.

"Well, you know, I'm a spy," Bucky says, and Jason's pretty sure he's kidding, but he also doesn’t _know_ him that well.

"Right. Well –" Jason starts, but then someone's pounding on the bathroom door to be let in, and they both laugh. "We should get going," he says.

"Yeah," Bucky agrees.

"I'll see you around, right?"

"For a couple weeks at least," Bucky says.

They head back into the bar, sidestepping the guy outside the bathroom who looks like he wants to kill them both, but halfway to the door Bucky stops Jason, grabs his arm. "Unless, uh," Bucky says. "There's a pool table free, if you want?"

It's getting late, and Jason's got an early appointment, but something tells him if he doesn't stay Bucky's going to get himself into some other kind of trouble and, well –

"Sure," Jason says. "I've always got time to kick someone's ass at pool."

They spend the next two hours hogging the table, through half a dozen shots of Cuervo and just as many rematches, until they're out behind the bar and Jason's on his knees on the dirty ground with Bucky's hands in his hair and it's 2AM before he gets home, smelling like smoke and tequila and pool chalk.

He's exhausted, but he stays up long enough to hit the shower, and when he comes out there's one text from Steve on his phone. _I don't know what you guys got up to, but he's actually sleeping. You're a miracle worker._

Jason grins stupidly at his phone and answers, _Free coffee reinstated?_

_I'll even throw in a pastry tomorrow._

Jason texts him a heart, throws his phone on his nightstand, and finally gets some sleep.

 

*

 

"So look," Jason says. Steve hasn't seen him all day, hasn't seen him since last night at the bar, but right now Jason is demolishing a blueberry muffin right at the counter because apparently he's never heard of sitting at a table. "I've been thinking."

"That's almost never a good sign," Steve says, and Jason flips him off. The effect is kind of lost, though, because there's a piece of blueberry stuck to his bottom lip.

"I've been _thinking_ ," Jason continues, "that you and I should go out. Like. On a date."

"Jason…" Steve starts. It's not that he _wants_ to say no, exactly. They've been jumping around this for almost a year now – hanging out at each other's places, getting drunk together, talking on the phone. But neither one of them has ever crossed that line.

"Now hold on," Jason says. "I know you and Bucky… I know that's all complicated, and that if he suddenly pulls his head outta his ass and asks you out himself that you'll dump me in a second. I'm cool with that."

"Jason," Steve tries again. This is making his head hurt, but at the same time he can't stop _smiling_.

"But I mean," Jason says. "In the meantime, I've been trying to get into your pants for like a _year_ now, and I'm pretty sure all those free drinks weren't just you being nice."

"They weren't," Steve says. He takes a breath. "I like you, Jason. It's just, you know…"

"You and Bucky," Jason says.

"Yeah."

Jason nods. "Would it help if I said he's the one who told me to ask you out?"

Steve considers. On the one hand, no, it doesn't, because it kind of hurts – but on the other hand, he knows Bucky just wants him to be happy. He wants the same thing, for both of them. And Jason's –

He thinks Jason could do that.

"Pick me up at eight?" Steve asks. Jason _beams_ at him, and for a second Steve doesn't see some tough guy in a leather jacket, but the cute kid Jason must've been once.

But then Jason makes off with two free cookies before he goes, so really, Jason was probably the type of kid who would've stolen Steve's lunch money.

 

*

 

"Wow," Steve says as soon as he sees Jason. Maybe a little too loudly, because Bucky cranes his head around from where he's sitting on the couch to look.

"What?" Jason asks. "Do I look stupid?"

"Not the word I was going for at all," Steve says. Jason looks great. It turns out he _does_ own something besides t-shirts and a leather jacket – he's wearing a suit jacket and a collared shirt, a decent pair of jeans without holes in them. "You, uh," Steve says. He swallows, tries again. "Your shirt has buttons and everything," he says, and immediately wants to shut the door on Jason and start over. He can hear Bucky laughing from the couch.

"Yeah, well," Jason shrugs. "I _did_ grow up fancy, you know."

"Really?"

"Yep. Dinner parties, debutantes… You ever met anyone who had a butler before?"

"See, now you're just bullshitting me," Steve says. He grabs his keys and his wallet and they both say goodbye to Bucky and head outside, Jason saying, "Hey, man, you don't believe me, ask my brothers."

"I thought they don't live in town."

"Well, no, and most of them aren't speaking to me at the moment, but…" Jason trails off and Steve, like any time Jason brings up his family, isn't sure whether he's supposed to offer his condolences or a joke, so instead he just says, "Anyway, all I meant was that you look great."

"What can I say? I clean up nice."

 

*

 

"I think I stopped the bleeding," Steve says. "I still think we should go to the hospital, though."

"I'm telling you, I'm totally fine."

"Jason, that guy came at you with a _knife_."

"Yeah, and now he'll never have children. What exactly is the problem here?"

Jason knows what the problem is. The problem is Jason has blood on his collar, only some of it his. The problem is Jason's hair is all fucked up from fighting; the problem is _Jason_ is all fucked up. The problem _is_ they had a nice dinner at a decent restaurant, during which time Jason managed to make Steve laugh half a dozen times and half of _those_ not even at how stupid Jason can be, and then –

Look, it's not Jason's fault if he's sort of a magnet for violence, okay?

Steve checks the cut on Jason's cheek again, then raises his eyebrows. "So, what, crazy people trying to fight you is just an ordinary night, or what? Because I definitely only signed up for dinner."

Shit. Fuck. "Sorry," Jason says. "Fuck, I know I totally wrecked this, okay? That's why I didn't ask you out months ago, because you're like this perfect normal guy and I'm –"

Steve kisses him. It kind of hurts, because Jason has a cut on his lip, but it's totally fucking _worth_ it. "You didn't wreck this," Steve says when he pulls back. He's smiling, like he's actually fucking _happy_ to be here in Jason's crummy apartment, and Jason can't think of anything clever and deflective to say, so he just waits.

"I had a really good time," Steve says. He straightens up, and Jason leans back in his chair a little to look up at him. "I mean, maybe next time we could just see an action movie instead of all that, but…"

"Next time?" Jason asks. He's not fifteen. He's _not_ gonna make this a thing, but –

"Well, yeah," Steve says. "I didn't give you all those free coffees so you could ditch me after one date."

"Nah," Jason says. "You gave me all those free coffees so I'd put _out_ after one date."

Steve chokes and _blushes_ , which is exactly what Jason was going for. "And that's my cue to say good _night_ , Jay," Steve says, but before he goes, he kisses Jason again, soft and sweet, brushes his fingers over Jason's cheek and says, "Put some ice on that or you'll scare off all your customers tomorrow."

"Fuck that," Jason says. "I'm just going to come by and scare off all of _yours_."

 

*

 

"You wanna see a movie tonight?" Bucky asks. Steve's searching the place for a t-shirt that doesn't have coffee spilled on it.

"Can't," Steve mutters. "Jason and I are going to a show. One of his friends has a band and Jason said it's bound to be hilarious and awful."

Actually, Jason promised if Steve went and endured Steph's show with him, he'd repay him in sexual favors, but Steve's – thirty-five percent sure that Jason was kidding.

Okay, maybe twenty-five.

"Oh," Bucky says. Steve grabs another t-shirt, inspects it, then walks over to where Bucky's hanging out in the kitchen, leaning back against the counter.

"You could come with," Steve says. He stands next to Bucky, bumps his shoulder with his. "I'm sure Jason wouldn't mind, and it's free admission."

Bucky looks at him a while, so long that Steve thinks about picking up his phone and telling Jason he can't go. He knows he hasn't been around much lately, that if he's not working or waiting for Jason to get off work, that he's _out_ with Jason. It's just – Bucky's the one who told him it would never happen. Bucky's the one who told _him_ -

"Nah," Bucky says. He puts his head on Steve's shoulder, and Steve can smell the shampoo he uses and the cigarettes he keeps pretending he doesn't smoke anymore. "I'm bein' an ass, man. Go to the show. Get drunk. Keep Jason out of trouble."

"You know those last two things are pretty mutually exclusive, right?" Steve asks. He hasn't seen Jason _really_ drunk since the night Jason and Bucky – but they kind of don't talk about that.

"Well," Bucky says. He straightens up, goes to the fridge to grab a beer. "Then get drunk, and have a good time, and call me if you need help bailing out Jason."

Steve laughs, and Bucky smiles at him, and Steve thinks again about canceling – he knows Jason would be okay with it, knows he'd _understand_ \- but he just says, "Thanks, man," and goes to get changed.

 

*

 

"So, your friend is hot," Steph says. Jason can barely hear her – his ears are still ringing from her shitty band's "music" – but he still has _eyes_ and he can see Steph leering at Steve where he's standing twenty feet away grabbing them more drinks from the bar.

"One," Jason says, shouting into Steph's ear so she can hear him over the noise, "you've already met him and called him boring, and two," he pokes Steph in the arm, hard, "If you put your paws anywhere near him I'll _end_ you, Brown."

Steph smirks, flips her long blonde hair back over her shoulder and shrugs. "Okay, okay." She nods over at Steve, who's walking toward them with two shot glasses. "It doesn't look like he's into anyone but _you_ , anyway."

Normally, Jason would disagree with this. They've gone on a couple of dates now, and it's been great, but there's always – something. Well, not fucking _something_ , actually. There's always _Bucky_. And Jason knows he's not exactly in the clear of that, either – he still remembers Bucky's hands on him, Bucky's mouth at his throat, still feels his blood rise just _hearing_ Bucky's voice sometimes –

But it'd be nice, maybe, to date just Steve sometimes.

Steve slings his arm around him and says, "Hey," right into his ear before he even acknowledges Steph. He's been different tonight – maybe it's the couple of drinks they already had, maybe it's the hour plus they've spent laughing at what Steph calls music, maybe – Jason's not sure. But after Steve congratulates Steph on her show – and Steve is _way_ too fucking nice for his own good, jesus _Christ_ \- he and Jason slip off into a quieter corner of the bar and Steve feeds him a shot before chasing the tequila with his tongue.

"Fuck," Jason says, when Steve's licked every last bit of alcohol out of his mouth. "What's gotten _into_ you?" He thinks he kind of knows, but Steve just smiles at him, drunk and happy, and says, "I guess I just had a really good time with you."

"Oh my god," Jason says. "If listening to shitty music gets you to stick your tongue down my throat, then we are going to _all_ of Steph's band practices from now on."

Steve makes a face. "You mean that's what they sound like _with_ practice?"

Jason laughs, and Steve kisses him again. They make out for a while, slow and easy like they've done this before, even though they really haven't, until Steph tugs on Jason's arm and says, "Come on, asshole, it's my big night and you're supposed to be buying me _drinks_ ," because Steph is the biggest cockblocker in the entire _world_.

He disengages, though, and between the three of them they get stupid, sloppy drunk until Steph goes home with her band and Jason pulls Steve out of the bar, keeping close to him so he doesn't trip over his suddenly-too-big-for-him feet.

Jason stops outside Steve's apartment, waiting for him while he digs his keys out of his pocket. He's just about to say good night when Steve turns back from the door and says, "Come home with me."

And Jason's sure there must be one or two reasons to say no to that – actual insanity or like, having to save the world – but he can't think of any right _now_ so he grins at Steve and follows him up the stairs.

 

*

 

Bucky's half-asleep when he hears them come in. He hasn't been waiting up, or anything. He had a couple beers, watched a couple more shows that he hasn't seen since before his last tour, and watched Steve's texts to him get steadily less legible.

He's happy for Steve. He _is_. He hates the thought of Steve waiting around for him, and he's glad that Steve found someone.

It's just. He wasn't expecting, when Steve found someone, to be right _there_.

It takes Steve and Jason a full three minutes to get in the door. He can hear Steve fumbling around with the keys, hears him make this _sound_ like Jason did something really great with his hands or his mouth or possibly _both_ \- and fuck, drunk or not, Bucky remembers just fine how Jason feels – and then Steve's chuckling as he gets the door open.

For reasons even he doesn't understand, Bucky pretends to be asleep. It's dark, and they only stop for a second, and then Jason mutters something else that makes Steve laugh and Bucky hears them move to the bedroom.

And then –

Well, _jesus_. Bucky never imagined – and he's imagined plenty – how loud Steve could get. Never imagined some of the things Steve says, groans for, and of course Bucky can't see any of what they're doing, but the things _Jason_ says give him a pretty clear idea.

He tries to just to sleep, to tune them out like background noise, but then Steve says, "Oh, _god_ " just as Jason says, "Fuck _me_ " and Bucky gets his hand around his dick and gets off to the sound of them, to the noises they make and the things he's imagining them doing to each other. He knows it's fucked up, knows it's fucked _up_ , but when Steve lets out a shout, Bucky comes so hard he has to bite his fist to keep from shouting with him.

 

*

 

Bucky's making coffee the next morning when Jason comes into the kitchen. Jason's pulled on a pair of beat up jeans and one of Steve's old t-shirts, and his hair's a mess of curls after taking a shower. Steve's at work already, probably dealing with one hell of a hangover if the way he stumbled around the apartment at five o'clock this morning is anything to go by.

"Hey man," Jason says. Bucky nods at him, pours him a cup of coffee. It's one of Steve's seven hundred American flag mugs, because everyone always thinks it's such a clever gift on Steve's birthday.

"Thanks," Jason says. He leans back against the counter, keeps his eyes on Bucky as he starts doctoring up his coffee. "Listen, uh," he says. "Sorry if we woke you up or anything last night. We were pretty drunk, and…"

Bucky waves his hand. "It's cool," he tells Jason. He leans back against the fridge, and their bare feet almost meet in the middle of the floor. "I'm happy for you guys," he says, and the thing is that he means it, but he doesn't _sound_ that way.

Jason laughs, quiet and gravelly. "Wow," he says. "Could you sound any less convincing?"

"Look," Bucky says.

"No, man," Jason says. "You don't have to explain. I told Steve from the start, if he's got to bail on me because you –"

"Jason, I wouldn't –"

"But you _should_ ," Jason says, and Bucky shuts up. Jason's looking right at him, blue eyes fucking intense in the morning sunlight pouring through the kitchen window, and Bucky can see the stubble growing on that sharp jawline, can see the bruise Steve sucked into his collarbone.

"I like Steve, okay?" Jason says. "I mean, I would've jumped his bones the first chance I _got_ if he hadn't turned me down six different times. And now, I mean, I'm crazy about him. But man, I'm – when I look at _you two_ -"

"Jason," Bucky tries again.

"Look," Jason says. He sets his coffee down, folds his arms against his chest. "All I'm sayin' is, fuckin' grow a pair, and I'll bow out."

Bucky lets out a breath. He knows, in a lot of ways, that Jason's right. If he's honest, he's known for years. But the thing is –

The thing _is_ -

"What if, uh," Bucky says, "What if I don't want you to bow out?"

Jason stares at him. His mouth opens a little, and Bucky remembers what that felt like against him, _on_ him. Bucky steps back from the fridge, moves a little closer to Jason. "What if I don't want him – or any of us – to have to choose?"

"Jesus," Jason says. He licks his lips, and Bucky thinks about kissing him, about how close that would be to kissing _Steve_ , but he just tugs at the hem of the t-shirt Jason's wearing and says, "This was mine, actually."

"Christ, I'll take it off right fuckin' _now_ if you want," Jason offers, and Bucky laughs, something sharp and a little ragged. Jason laughs with him, and then he touches Bucky's shoulder, his neck, gets his hand on Bucky's face. "Just talk to him, man, okay? Fuck the daylights out of each other, or hold hands in the park, or _whatever_ , just – quit holding back."

"Okay," Bucky says.

"Okay," Jason nods. He nudges Bucky out of the way, starts searching around in the cabinets and fridge for something to make for breakfast. It's not until Jason's got eggs and a pan of bacon going that he looks back over at Bucky. For a minute, he looks a lot younger, a lot more vulnerable than Bucky's seen before. "Did you mean it, about – about not wanting to choose?"

"Yeah," Bucky says, "I did." Jason nods again, and Bucky adds, "But first I wanna test your cooking skills."

"Please, asshole," Jason says, waving a spatula at him. "I learned from a master fuckin' chef. I'm _amazing_."

The bacon burns, and they screw up the second pot of coffee, but at least it gives them an excuse to walk a couple blocks down the street and go harass Steve instead.

 

*

 

Bucky walks into the coffee shop just in time to hear some old lady yelling at Steve about how cold it is in the place. It's fucking seventy-eight degrees at the _coolest_ , but Steve takes her complaints like a pro, promises to turn the heat up, and offers her a free pastry for her troubles.

"That's why you're losing money," Bucky says once the lady clears off.

"Shut up, punk," Steve says. "We actually broke even this year."

"Is that including all the free coffees you gave Jason hoping he'd ask you out?"

"That _never_ happened," Steve says, but his cheeks turn a little pink like they always do when Bucky mentions Jason.

"How you feeling after last night?" Bucky asks. He doesn’t _mean_ it to sound like that, but Steve's blush gets darker and Bucky clears his throat. "I mean, I heard you guys got pretty drunk."

"Oh," Steve says. "Right, yeah. I'm kind of dying, but Nat told me she'll cover for me if I leave early."

Nat comes over with a coffee for Bucky, gives Steve a look. "I did?" she asks.

"Yep," Steve grins at her. "Right after I told you I'd give you a raise."

Nat snorts, pats Steve on the back. "Honey, you already can't afford me," she says. "But if you want to go play hooky with your boyfriends, Cass and I can handle it."

"Thanks," Steve says. Bucky steps out of the way so Steve can help some customers, but hangs around by the pick-up counter. "Jason go to work?" Steve asks.

"Yeah, he had an early appointment," Bucky says. "He said he'd stop by in a little while for a quickie in the back room," he adds, and Steve spills half a pitcher of milk.

"I'm _kidding_ ," Bucky says.

"Are you?" Steve asks, grabbing a rag to clean up the mess.

"Well, no, he definitely said that, but I don't think he _meant_ it."

Steve laughs, shakes his head. He looks tired, but happy, and it makes something in Bucky's chest seize up a little. He must be watching Steve too closely, because Steve looks up at him after he hands off another drink and asks, "You okay?"

"Yeah, man, I just – you uh. You wanna grab some lunch later?" Steve looks at him like he wants to ask, but maybe decides this isn't the place. "Of course, man. I'll meet you back home."

 

*

 

They order pizza and put on _Lost_ , and Steve decides the only way he's going to beat this hangover is to keep drinking, so by the time they finish they pizza they've had two beers each. He's not usually one to drink during the day, but, well –

Bucky's making him nervous. Bucky's _never_ made him nervous, not the first time Steve tried to kiss him, or the second, but there's something about the way Bucky keeps turning from the TV to look at him that's getting him kind of –

"Okay," Steve says. He pauses the show, not that he really knows what's going on, anyway. If it were up to him, they'd be watching _Buffy_ instead, but Bucky swears there's more to life than Joss Wheadon shows.

"Come on, man," Bucky says. "I just explained to you what's going on. Sawyer –"

"Not that," Steve says. He sets his beer on the coffee table, turns to look at Bucky. "Something's going on with you, man."

"Steve…" Bucky says.

"Are you –" Steve starts, stops. "Do you have to go back already? Is that it?"

Bucky looks startled. "No, that's not it at all. It's…" He tugs at his hair, let's out a breath.

"Buck," Steve says. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"I _know_ that," Bucky says, rolling his eyes. "It's just – oh, fuck it," he says, and then Bucky's mouth is pressed up against his, soft and warm and tasting like stale beer, and Steve remembers what this felt like, remembers being drunk and unsteady, remembers being sober and sure and turned down –

He pushes Bucky back against the couch, and Bucky's breathing hard, eyes wide, and he licks his lips and it takes everything in Steve not to do the same thing.

"Bucky," he says, "what the _hell_?"

"It's, um," Bucky laughs. "It's something Jason said, actually."

"Was it," Steve tries. "Was it something, maybe, about how he and I are dating –"

"No," Bucky says. His fingers wrap around Steve's wrist. "He said – he said I should go for it. With you, I mean."

"Oh," Steve says. It's all he _can_ say for a while. He tries to get his breathing back to normal – remembers years of asthma attacks, years of Bucky holding onto him and talking him through them –, tries to make sense of anything here.

"I'm not trying to break you two up," Bucky says. "I know – I _know_ I fucked up, man. I know I shouldn't have said no before, that I never should've left."

"You had to," Steve says. "I get that, Bucky."

"Yeah, but." Bucky grips him tighter, takes his hand in his. Steve can feel his calluses, ones just like Jason has. "I was an idiot. I was so fucking scared of hurting you, and then, seeing you with him…"

"I thought you liked Jason," Steve says.

"I do," Bucky says, and Steve's known him so long, knows him so well, that all he has to say are those two words like that and Steve – thinks he gets it.

"I'm not asking you to break up with him," Bucky says. "I'm – asking you to count me in."

"Oh," Steve says again, like he's stuck on just that word, like it's the only word that encompasses everything he's feeling right now. Bucky wants him. Bucky wants _both_ of them, just like Steve does.

Just like Jason does.

("It's not weird that we fucked, right?" Jason asked him this afternoon, when Steve went over to see him before heading home. Steve hadn't known how to answer him, hadn't know how to say yes and no all at once, so instead he'd pressed Jason back against the counter until Kori looked up from inking a customer and said, "You guys, get a _room_ already."

" _This_ is my room," Jason said, and Steve laughed and buried his head in Jason's shoulder.)

"You can think about it," Bucky says now. He hasn't stopped looking at Steve, like he's scared and worried, like he hasn't faced down bullets and tanks and terrorists a hundred times.

Steve knows he probably _should_ think about it, but he doesn't. He says, "Okay," and then he's pulling Bucky in, kissing him the way he's wanted to for years, since forever. Bucky's mouth opens against his and Steve dives in, tasting him, taking everything he can. 

They stay like that for a while, until one of them rolls over the remote and the TV starts blaring at them again and they break up laughing. Steve's phone buzzes in his pocket. He looks at the text, chokes, and shows Bucky.

_Fuck him yet?_ Jason asks.

"Wow," Bucky laughs. "Tell him I'm a classy guy and I don't get to that until at _least_ the fourth date."

Steve raises his eyebrows.

"Okay, third."

Steve keeps looking at him.

"Fine, okay, you're right. Just tell him to get over here."

Steve laughs and sends the text.

 

*

 

Jason's half-expecting to walk in on Steve and Bucky going at it. From what Steve's told him, and what he's gathered from Bucky, it'd be a hell of a long time coming. He meant what he told Bucky, what he told Steve before – he'd back off, if they asked him to. He knows more than a little about being second string.

But when he gets to Steve's apartment, he finds Steve and Bucky cuddled up on the couch watching _Buffy_ and arguing about which one of them should get up and get more beer. "I'm going to buy you idiots a cooler," Jason says.

"Or," Bucky says, "you could just be beer runner, since you're already up anyway."

Jason shakes his head, but walks into the kitchen and grabs three more beers out of the fridge. When he comes back, Buffy is fighting some kind of slime beast and Steve's got his tongue in Bucky's mouth and his hands in Bucky's hair.

"Jesus," Jason breathes out. Part of him feels like his chest is going to burst, but most of him thinks he could watch this for a long fucking time.

Steve and Bucky pull apart, and they both look up at him. "Sorry," Steve says.

"Don't apologize," Jason says. He sets the beers down on the table and stands in front of Steve and Bucky. He waits, until he realizes they're both staring and waiting for him, and Jason's never been shy about making the first move. He leans down and kisses Steve, tasting beer and pizza, tasting Bucky. Then Steve scoots over, leaves a space between him and Bucky, and before Jason can think Bucky's kissing him, hard and hot at first like that night, then a little slower, a little more lingering.

"You know," Jason says when Bucky pulls back, "After we talked, I didn't actually think you'd move so fast."

Bucky smirks, cups Jason's face in his hand. "Please, I've got moves like you wouldn't believe."

"Oh, great," Steve says beside him. "There's two of you."

Jason leans back and kisses Steve again. "Shut up and order us another pizza. I'm _starving_."


End file.
